undergradly.
Major · Family & Consumer Sciences

A management-focused path into early-childhood programs

Child Care and Support Services Management (CIP 19.0708) prepares students to plan, design, and run child care facilities and programs. About 1,552 students complete it across 175 institutions, with five-year median earnings of $43,463 reflecting a mix of frontline and director-track roles.

Schools offering
175
Annual completions
1,552
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$43k

About this major

Child Care and Support Services Management (CIP 19.0708) is a program focused on the operation of child care facilities — the management side of early childhood. The CIP definition centers on planning, designing, and running programs that meet children’s developmental needs while providing safe and healthy environments. Coursework typically blends child development and psychology with personnel and business management, regulatory compliance, parent relations, and the identification of diseases, injuries, and psychological trauma along with applicable referrals. Students spend time on both the classroom-facing side (curriculum, observation, developmental assessment) and the operations side (licensing, staffing, budgets, facility design).

The major fits students drawn to working with young children but also interested in the operations behind a functioning center — staffing schedules, state licensing, parent communication, regulatory paperwork. Patience with both kids and adults helps. Comfort with administrative detail matters more than it does in pure early-childhood-teaching majors, because the destination roles involve hiring, payroll, and compliance work alongside classroom oversight.

A grounded scale signal: 1,552 students complete this CIP each year across 175 institutions, with the program offered at both the associate’s and bachelor’s levels. Top producers skew toward community colleges — Post University (281 associate’s graduates) leads, followed by SUNY Westchester Community College (44), Florida State College at Jacksonville (43), National Louis University (40 bachelor’s), and Clackamas Community College (40). Five-year median earnings sit at $43,463, with named labor-market destinations including preschool teachers ($37,120, 4.1% growth) and family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondary ($77,280, 3.4% growth, doctoral typical).

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Preschool teachers, except special education $37k +4.1% Associate's degree
Family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondary $77k +3.4% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$43k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$35k

Bachelor's

$48k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if running a center sounds more appealing than teaching in one full-time, you want a credential that opens director-track roles in early childhood programs, you’re comfortable with the operations layer (licensing paperwork, staff scheduling, parent meetings, state inspections), you want a path that works at either the associate’s level (Clackamas, Suffolk County, SUNY Westchester) or the bachelor’s level (Post University, National Louis), and the bachelor’s wage of $48,175 — earned mostly in director-track destinations — fits your expectations.

Think twice if your goal is classroom teaching for its own sake — Child Development (CIP 19.0706, 2,480 completions) or Early Childhood and Family Studies (19.0711, 393 completions) match that goal more directly without the management coursework. Reconsider if you expected director pay immediately on graduation; the five-year median of $43,463 reflects mostly frontline lead-teacher and assistant-director roles, with director pay arriving after state credentialing and several years on the floor. Pause as well if you want a higher-earning postsecondary teaching path — the FCS-postsecondary destination at $77,280 typically requires a doctoral degree, not a bachelor’s. And verify your state’s director-credential rules before committing, because the academic degree is only one part of what licensing boards require.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Child Care and Support Services Management

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Post University Waterbury, CT 281 0 281
SUNY Westchester Community College Valhalla, NY 44 0 44
Florida State College at Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL 43 0 43
National Louis University Chicago, IL 0 40 40
Clackamas Community College Oregon City, OR 40 0 40
Central Community College Grand Island, NE 34 0 34
Suffolk County Community College Selden, NY 34 0 34
Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH 29 0 29
Hudson Valley Community College Troy, NY 27 0 27
SUNY College of Technology at Canton Canton, NY 17 8 25
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Human Development and Family Studies, General

6,801 completions/yr

Child Care Provider/Assistant

5,421 completions/yr

Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other

3,164 completions/yr

Child Development

2,480 completions/yr

Family and Community Services

744 completions/yr

Early Childhood and Family Studies

393 completions/yr

Family Systems

316 completions/yr

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services, Other

256 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Do I need a bachelor’s, or is an associate’s enough?
Both routes are common — the data shows associate’s graduates earning a five-year median of $34,697 and bachelor’s graduates earning $48,175. Most of the top-producing schools are community colleges (SUNY Westchester, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Clackamas, Suffolk County) running associate’s tracks, while a few four-year programs like Post University and National Louis University drive the bachelor’s side. Many state director credentials accept either degree paired with experience, so the choice often comes down to whether you want to manage a single center (associate’s often suffices) or move into multi-site or public-policy roles (bachelor’s helps).
What jobs do graduates actually land?
The labor-market destinations in the packet are preschool teachers, except special education ($37,120 median, 4.1% growth, associate’s typical) and family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondary ($77,280, 3.4% growth, doctoral typical). The headline destination most students target — preschool and childcare center director — sits between these in pay and is reached after frontline classroom experience plus state director licensure. Early-career graduates typically start as lead teachers or assistant directors before moving into director or program-administrator roles.
Why is the median wage modest at $43,463?
The five-year median of $43,463 reflects the mix of graduates. Most early-career destinations — preschool teacher, lead teacher, assistant director — sit in the $30,000s to low $40,000s, and roughly two-thirds of completions in the packet are associate’s degrees feeding directly into frontline classroom work. Director and program-administrator pay (often $50,000–$60,000) shows up later, after state credentialing and several years on the floor. The wage isn’t a measure of ceiling; it’s a measure of where graduates sit five years out, which is mostly still in classroom roles.
What about state licensing for childcare directors?
State-issued director credentials are the gating step in this field, and they vary widely. Most states layer some combination of a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, a state director certificate, college coursework, and documented hours of classroom experience. A bachelor’s in Child Care Management speeds up the academic side but doesn’t replace state-specific credentialing. Check your state’s licensing rules before choosing a program — some accept bachelor’s coursework toward the director credential, while others require a separate state-administered certificate.
How does this compare to Child Development or Early Childhood Education?
Child Development (CIP 19.0706, 2,480 completions) and Early Childhood and Family Studies (CIP 19.0711, 393 completions) emphasize the developmental science and classroom-teaching side; this CIP layers in business management, personnel, and facilities-operation coursework aimed at running a program rather than only teaching in one. Child Care Provider/Assistant (19.0709, 5,421 completions) is a shorter, more vocational credential aimed at frontline care. If you want to teach toddlers, Child Development fits; if you want to run the center, this CIP is the more direct match.
What’s a common next step after this degree?
Most graduates start in lead-teacher or assistant-director roles to log the classroom hours required for state director credentialing. From there, the typical path is center director, then multi-site administrator or public-program coordinator (Head Start, state-funded preschool, family services). Some bachelor’s graduates pivot toward family and consumer sciences teaching at the postsecondary level — though the packet shows that destination ($77,280) typically requires a doctoral degree. Others move into related fields like family and community services or human-development counseling, often with an additional master’s.